Haven't done much this week. I'm really trying to lay down the law and get the noise level to go down and respond more appropriately to the behavior of individuals. I have one student who actually stood up before I said class was over and slowly sat down so I need to find a fair way to address him and work with him on what we both need to do better in class. The weather was really nice so I walked around a nearby park thinking about what my new acquaintance from Morocco said about how the city planted over a million trees in 4 years and how that impacted the air quality here. It's so hard for me to grasp, but I'm also really happy that I have a little recent history now to layer into my daily experiences of this city. I've seen buildings go up over the course of my time here but in my own individual experience accessing that understanding of all the changes hasn't been too easy.
Aside from that, I guess it's been all about eating. They brought in the pidan, century eggs, to the fancy market across the street from us. I liked them when I had them in Changsha, so I decided to buy a few and play with them a bit. I'm not sure what the difference is between buying them when they've been all cleaned off and you just have to crack open that gray-blue shell and buying an egg still coated in straw and other things. "Clay" doesn't seem to suffice for describing the mix that is applied to the eggs but given the slightly pinkish color, that's usually the first word that comes to mind when I see it. So I had them straight the first time, they were OK. Then because I'd heard they were good with zhou/jook/congee, I took some leftover rice and made some chicken broth, tossed both into my rice cooker with some slices of ginger and garlic, stirred occasionally, and was able to make a nice thick flavorful jook. It was pretty good. I haven't tried much else, but I've come to the conclusion that century eggs are probably better paired with something because of its unique taste. It's interesting to me because of the different textures you get too. The egg yolk is kind of semi-solid and still a bit liquidy, the white has became dark and gelatinous, and the other inner part is a bit more solid than the rest. It looks scary, but it's not too bad, just a slight kind of...sulfurous(?) smell.
Aside from that, I guess it's been all about eating. They brought in the pidan, century eggs, to the fancy market across the street from us. I liked them when I had them in Changsha, so I decided to buy a few and play with them a bit. I'm not sure what the difference is between buying them when they've been all cleaned off and you just have to crack open that gray-blue shell and buying an egg still coated in straw and other things. "Clay" doesn't seem to suffice for describing the mix that is applied to the eggs but given the slightly pinkish color, that's usually the first word that comes to mind when I see it. So I had them straight the first time, they were OK. Then because I'd heard they were good with zhou/jook/congee, I took some leftover rice and made some chicken broth, tossed both into my rice cooker with some slices of ginger and garlic, stirred occasionally, and was able to make a nice thick flavorful jook. It was pretty good. I haven't tried much else, but I've come to the conclusion that century eggs are probably better paired with something because of its unique taste. It's interesting to me because of the different textures you get too. The egg yolk is kind of semi-solid and still a bit liquidy, the white has became dark and gelatinous, and the other inner part is a bit more solid than the rest. It looks scary, but it's not too bad, just a slight kind of...sulfurous(?) smell.
I finally tried some of the traditional Hunan snacks that I've seen in Vanguard, Walmart, Better Life Market, and other places I've shopped for food before. The green and gold bean cakes were sweeter than expected and I'm still not sure what the white cakes I ate were made of.
Small kind of crumbly cake made from what I'm sure is green bean paste, if not bean paste that's been colored. It was nice, very sweet, and surprisingly filling for me.
This week was the first time I think I've really felt the double-edged sword of my mostly Chinese appearance. We planned to go visit some friends in Nanyue, where Hengshan is located. We asked about getting there more than a week before leaving and the night before we were planning to leave, my site mate got a message saying she was expected at the interviews for new teachers on Saturday. She wasn't happy and I'm not entirely thrilled that they would pull this on her too, I told her she could probably push harder to insist on her plans but it doesn't look like that's happening. I feel kind of guilty too because she asked yesterday if I wanted to buy a bus ticket and I said I was going to wait until the day of so that I could just catch the next bus out after finishing my last class. It seemed easier than trying to rush out. Since she hadn't paid for a ticket, she didn't have the argument that she paid for a bus ticket and couldn't waste that money but she still paid for her half of the hostel room. I feel terrible. I hope we find another weekend so we can go and I'll try to find something I small I can bring back. But man, it really hurts to see my traveling partner and site mate be forced to change plans so suddenly. And another hurt that I haven't previously experienced seems to have surfaced. I guess they wanted her because it would look good for the school to show they have foreigners at their school (and they are hoping to become Hunan's first international school) whereas I've heard nothing about these interviews. It's the second time she's been called in. At first, I just assumed that it was because she has a lengthier resume and more job experience. Now I realize, the combination of my appearance, my introversion, and relative inexperience has just left me completely out of the loop on some things that she hears about and gets invited to. I've felt pretty good about working here, it's exceeded my expectations many times over, but this still stings. Maybe it's my own fault. I walked away from an invitation to KTV because I wanted to know the other teachers, but wasn't entirely comfortable with singing in front of others either. I accepted an invitation to KTV at another time but basically found that it was hard for me and it just wasn't me. I know you have to get over your likes and dislikes for others sometimes but this seems like one that I can't take on as well as other attempts to find common ground or share common experiences.
I'm tired, the kids say I have a white hair now which is surprising because I've felt more on top of it lesson plan wise but have been trying to keep up discipline wise. I'm just too non-responsive when I need to act in class in regards to noise and misbehavior. Maybe I've been more stressed than I believe with trying to enforce some new class rules about the noise. I also called a woman from a local university who gave her number to my sitemate. Given that I'm pretty quiet, she can't remember that we met at the same event where she met my site mate/remember meeting me at all. When I called, she said she still wanted to see my site mate since we were both still in Zhuzhou. I'm preparing my resume now, but we shall see. I really want to get things going so I can be clear about my expectations in the contract (if I get one).
Aside from school stuff, (as I mentioned before) our fellow WorldTeachers in Nanyue invited everyone out for a weekend to come for a climb up the mountain and socializing. It was fun, but I'm exhausted and struggling to pull myself together for the week. They booked the hostel rooms for us so we just needed to come and pay. It was more expensive than I anticipated but the upside is even with the extra expenses it looks like I'll be holding onto 2/3 of my stipend from this month due to my thriftiness. The Nanyue teachers are good friends with the woman who runs the hostel and when she heard they had a group of friends coming she arranged for a bus, a quick tea ceremony demonstration, a visit to a Buddhist pagoda, and a visit to a Daoist temple where we had a chance to ask the master there (and I guess the head daoist leader in that area) some questions through those of us who spoke a decent amount of Chinese and some of the locals who helped us out. I arrived on Friday after taking the bus, which is a bit of a strange experience because you get on the big bus in Zhuzhou, they drop you off on the side of the road and you have to get on a much smaller bus, and then when you get there you need to find another bus or a taxi to get to where you want to go. Saturday was really long...We left just around 10AM to walk to where the bus was, but we stopped for a quick look at the Chinese tea ceremony before we got on board. The roads around the mountain were like home, but with more tourist buses going up and down and the rides being a bit longer than between my high school and my home. And though I've seen an orange-robed monk before while standing in line at a grocery store back home, it's not as if I actually drive past gold buddha statues or temples back home either. I'm sure I'll come back and write more in-depth about it all later. But I'm just really tired after staying up until 1AM, getting up to meet everyone for coffee, catching the train back to Zhuzhou, and happily discovering that I have water again. My water went out on Thursday night and I was worried I'd be coming back to another week of no showers. As far as my impressions go, most of what I can come up with is the smell of incense all throughout Nanyue and all over Hengshan (the mountain we went up), the sight of crowds of people kneeling and bowing before tables covered with cups, incense, and other things out in the street at night, that it was fun to catch up and see everyone, and that I wouldn't mind coming back. But eh. I have work to do now and kids who need to remember they have a test in June. I'm thinking of creating a wikispace or something where they can review the words from my class and I'll record myself so they can hear the words. Or maybe I'll ask them to contribute to the website by pronouncing the words. Anyway, back to lesson planning and then some much needed rest.
I'm tired, the kids say I have a white hair now which is surprising because I've felt more on top of it lesson plan wise but have been trying to keep up discipline wise. I'm just too non-responsive when I need to act in class in regards to noise and misbehavior. Maybe I've been more stressed than I believe with trying to enforce some new class rules about the noise. I also called a woman from a local university who gave her number to my sitemate. Given that I'm pretty quiet, she can't remember that we met at the same event where she met my site mate/remember meeting me at all. When I called, she said she still wanted to see my site mate since we were both still in Zhuzhou. I'm preparing my resume now, but we shall see. I really want to get things going so I can be clear about my expectations in the contract (if I get one).
Aside from school stuff, (as I mentioned before) our fellow WorldTeachers in Nanyue invited everyone out for a weekend to come for a climb up the mountain and socializing. It was fun, but I'm exhausted and struggling to pull myself together for the week. They booked the hostel rooms for us so we just needed to come and pay. It was more expensive than I anticipated but the upside is even with the extra expenses it looks like I'll be holding onto 2/3 of my stipend from this month due to my thriftiness. The Nanyue teachers are good friends with the woman who runs the hostel and when she heard they had a group of friends coming she arranged for a bus, a quick tea ceremony demonstration, a visit to a Buddhist pagoda, and a visit to a Daoist temple where we had a chance to ask the master there (and I guess the head daoist leader in that area) some questions through those of us who spoke a decent amount of Chinese and some of the locals who helped us out. I arrived on Friday after taking the bus, which is a bit of a strange experience because you get on the big bus in Zhuzhou, they drop you off on the side of the road and you have to get on a much smaller bus, and then when you get there you need to find another bus or a taxi to get to where you want to go. Saturday was really long...We left just around 10AM to walk to where the bus was, but we stopped for a quick look at the Chinese tea ceremony before we got on board. The roads around the mountain were like home, but with more tourist buses going up and down and the rides being a bit longer than between my high school and my home. And though I've seen an orange-robed monk before while standing in line at a grocery store back home, it's not as if I actually drive past gold buddha statues or temples back home either. I'm sure I'll come back and write more in-depth about it all later. But I'm just really tired after staying up until 1AM, getting up to meet everyone for coffee, catching the train back to Zhuzhou, and happily discovering that I have water again. My water went out on Thursday night and I was worried I'd be coming back to another week of no showers. As far as my impressions go, most of what I can come up with is the smell of incense all throughout Nanyue and all over Hengshan (the mountain we went up), the sight of crowds of people kneeling and bowing before tables covered with cups, incense, and other things out in the street at night, that it was fun to catch up and see everyone, and that I wouldn't mind coming back. But eh. I have work to do now and kids who need to remember they have a test in June. I'm thinking of creating a wikispace or something where they can review the words from my class and I'll record myself so they can hear the words. Or maybe I'll ask them to contribute to the website by pronouncing the words. Anyway, back to lesson planning and then some much needed rest.
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